EUR96m, has been obtained entirely as a loan from the Development Bank of Ethiopia; only 15 per cent of this money was required in local currency. The contract to construct the plant and supply the machinery was given to the Chinese Hance Cement Research and Design Institute.
"The civil work has been completed. The machineries are now coming from China," said Brehanu Werede, acting general manager of the project.
The new plant, expected to be completed by August 2010, will have a capacity to produce 1.2Mt of cement a year, up from the current capacity of 630,000tn. The factory will also grind 3000tpd of clinker, 1000tpd more than the existing plant. When the work is completed, Mesobe will have equal capacity to Muger Cement Factory, which is undertaking an expansion project
